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Patented May 25, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE COT John Alan Ball,Birmingham, and- Wilfred George the side section about the An gerson,Kings 'Norton', Birmingham, England .4 Claims. (Cl. 190) This inventionrelates to convertible cot and play-pen appliances which when assembledas a cot have head and foot sections, and side sections detachablysecured thereto around a mattress frame or equivalent bedding support.

The object of the invention to facilitate the conversion of theappliance from the form-in which it is a cot to'the form in which-it isa play pen, so that this conversion is within the capabilitiesofallclasses of persons who are likely to be concerned with the care ofchildren.

With this object in view the head and foot sections are provided withdrop-side guides along which can slide an attachment member provided ator near each lower corner of the associated side section, the attachmentmembers being such as to permit pivoting otthe side section relativelyto the guides at the lower ends thereof about an axis perpendicular tothe plane of head and foot sections to enable the: side section to beswung into the play-pen position, andwherein the other side section ispivotally. connected about an axis parallel to that aforesaid byattachment members at or near its upper corners to the head and footsections at or near the corners thereof diagonally opposite tothe lowerends of the guides, so that this side section can also be swung into theplay-pen position, bothside sections having further attachment membersat or near their remaining corners which attach-.-

ment members are releasable from the head and foot sections to permitsaid swinging movement,

and which can be re-fastened thereto in the playpen position.

It will be understood that the provision of a drop-sided cot is notregarded as novel, this being conventional practice, but the featurethat the side sections can be swung as described from the position whichthey occupy when the appliance is in the form of acot to the positionwhich they occupy when the appliance is the form of a play pen canbeincorporated only in cots in which one of the side sections can bedropped.

The drop-side guides may if required take. a conventional form, such asrods secured to the head and foot sections, at one side of these andadjacent to the inner faces. If such a construe-- tion is employed thenit will be necessarywto provide on the side section concerned attachmentmembers which are capable of sliding along these rods, and which in thecase of those secured to the lower corners oflthe drop-side section arealso capable of pivoting relatively to aforesaid axis. -Whilstsuch aconstruction would be' within the scope or the invention, it ispreferred to adopt a simpler type of attachment member and a simplifiedform of drop-side guide.

For instance the cooperating securing means by which the head and footsections are detachably secured to theside sections may comprise.locating posts projecting endwise from the ends of the side sections.openings extending through the side margins of the head and'footsections for receiving the posts and clamping thumbscrews havin headsbearing against the outer faces of the. head and foot sections, andshanks screwthreaded to engage within said openings cooperatively withthreads on the posts.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings'illustrating by way of example a preferred embodiment thereofand wherein:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a cot constructed in accordancewith the present invention assembled for use as a cot;

Figure Zshows also in perspective the same cot converted for use as aplay pen;

Figure 3 shows in end elevation and. on an enlarged scale a view of thesame cot, the chain dotted lines indicating the positions of the sidesections at one stage of the conversion process; and

vther enlarged scale showing in cross section on the line 4-4 of Figure3 the details of construction of the cooperating securing means providedfor detachably securing the-head and foot sections to the side sections.

The side sections of the cot indicated generally at It] and ii(Figure 1) are in the main of conventional construction and compriseupper and lower horizontal bars such as are indicated at E2 and i3connected by spaced vertical'rails l4.

The head and foot sections of the cot l5 and i6 respectivelyare of likeconstruction, and it will therefore .be necessary to describe only oneof these. Considering. for this purpose the foot section i6--thiscomprises an elongatedrectangularjramehavin'g sidemembers l1 andl8'connected at theirends by upper and lower bars I9 any suitableforinof joint.

At an appropriate height forthe support of a mattressira-methe sidemembers ii and I8 are connected by horigontalsupport rails '2! on theupper ,iace o: which extensions f ,of the mattress framefiindicatedgeany at 22",(Figur 1),"can

and 28, the connection being effe'cted through V the foot member, thatis to say the space enclosed by the members ii, it, is and 2!, presentsan effective barrier through or over which a child cannot climb when theappliance is assembled, as in Figures 1 or 2, a panel 23 is secured toextend between the bar is and the support rail 2i, leaving onlyrelatively narrow spaces 2d and 25 between its sides and the sidemembers I? and it of sulllcient width to allow the extensions of themattress frame to lie on the rail 2! without undue free lateral movementbut of insuflicient width to prevent any danger of a child gainin exiteither from the cot or the play pen.

It will be understood that the construction illustrated in which thepanel 23 is employed is only one form of effective unclirnbable barrierwhich may be employed.

Other forms are possible, as for example diagonal slats.

The lower portion of the foot section is provided with spaced horizontalrails it, the spacing GI" v. ich is, as in the case of those of the sidesections, insufficient to result in any danger of the child getting outor" the play pen, and as has already pointed out these horizontal railsnot form any part of the barrier when the appliance is assembled as acot, and hence the fact that they are horizontal does not lead to anydanger.

To enable the side sections to be secured to the head and foot sections,the latter are prod with openings extending through the marpor ions oftheir sides. In the construcillustrated these openings are formedthrough the side members i? and it.

The upper and lower bars 52 and id of the side sections are providedwith projecting posts, indicated generally at 2'] (Figure 4), which willbe described in more detail subsequently and which engage in theopenings formed in the side members i? and is.

In the side member it three openings are provided, one at the uppercorner being an openended slot, 21 second one 23 spaced vertically fromthe opening 2 3 being in the form of an L-shaped slot, whilst theremaining opening 35 is a closed ended slot of considerable lengthextending for the whole of the lower portion of the side member 58.

The slot forms a drop-side guide in which the projecting post of thelower bar 53 of the associated side section engages. In the raised orupper. position of this side section the post projecting from the upperbar i2 is received in the slot 28.

To lower the dropside, the side section it is raised slightly, its upperbar is moved outwardly, and the whole is then lowered until theprojecting post of the upper bar 22 can be engaged in the slot 29,whereupon the side section is moved inwardl to the furthest possibleextent and subsequently allowed to fall, so that the post moves into thedownwardly-extending portion 3 of the L-shaped slot is.

The drop-side is thus effectively held in position against outwarddisplacement not only by the clamping action of the cooperating securingmeans, which will later be described, but also positively by the wallsof either the slot 28 and the portion 3 of the slot 29.

In order to permit the assembly of the post projecting from the lowerbar 53 complete with the headed thumbscrew, shown generally at St,through the slot 39, the atter has an enlarged portion 32 at upper endwhich is above the ilk (iii

4 position reached by the lower bar I3 when the drop-side is in theraised position.

The arrangements in respect of the side membar it are somewhat similarexcept that in this case side section 8 ii cannot be dropped as can theside section 5 i, so that consequently the elongated slot forming thedrop-side guide is omitted.

For the purpose of securing the side section it two slots only areprovided, 33 which is of i. formation like the slot 253, and 34 which isopenended and is similar to slot 28.

The lower end of the side member H has an openended slot 35 foraccommodating the projecting post of the bar iii of the side section I!when the latter is in the position for use as a play pen.

In order to convert from a cot to a play pen, the drop-side is firstlowered, as already described, and using the posts at the ends of thelower bar i3 as pivots in the lower ends of the guide slots 36, thewhole side section is swung, as indicated by the arrow 35, through 270until the posts of the upper bar iii are engaged in slots 35, anintermediate position being indicated at 3? in chain dotted lines.

Likewise the side section iii, after release of the posts projectingfrom the ends of its lower bar from the slot 33, is swung about the slot35; until the free posts are received in slots 23.

Referring now to the cooperating securing means illustrated in Figure 4,these comprise a post El, having a shank 33 which is secured in a socket39 formed in the bar of the side section to which the post is applied,this shank being provided with barbs or ratchet teeth so.

The socket 39 is first bored to a diameter slightly smaller than themaximum cross-sectionai dimensions of the shank 38, and the latter isforced in by means of a suitable press or hand tool, so that the barbsor ratchet teeth 49 bite into the side walls of the socket and by theirformation secure the shank firmly against withdrawal.

The shank may be of any suitable cross-sectional shape, for examplecircular, but we prefer to form it of approximately square section withthe ratchet teeth or barbs at rounded corners of this section.

The projecting portion ill of the post is hollow and screwthreadedinternally, as seen at 42, to cooperate with the screwthreaded portionit on the shank of the thumbscrew 3|.

This shank at a position intermediate the threaded portion and the baseof the head 36 is of reduced diameter upon which is partially closed orturned in the outer lip or rim 4-? of the post, so that although thethumbscrew can be screwed completely out of engagement with the threadedportion d2 of the post it cannot be withdrawn completely.

At the junction of the projecting portion l! of the post and the shank,the post is formed with an annular flange 68 against which thethumbscrew serves to clamp the head or foot section, so thatovertightening of the thumbscrew cannot tend to withdraw the shank 38from the socket 39.

The mattress frame of the cot has side members 4% which are extended, asseen at to rest on the rail ii, the end members of this frame (not seenin the drawings) bearing against the inner faces of the panels 23 tolocate the mattress frame in the endwise direction.

What we claim then is:

1. A convertible cot and play-pen appliance comprising head and footsections each of greater height than width and provided with drop-sideguides extending along corresponding vertical edges, side sections eachof greater length than height, all said sections including barrier meansextending over substantially their whole area, at least one side sectionhaving near its lower corners fastening elements slidingly moving insaid guides and for pivoting relatively to the head and foot sectionsabout an axis perpendicular thereto at least when said elements are atthe lower extremity of said guides, the other side section havingfastening elements near its upper corners securing it pivotally about anaxis parallel to the first said axis near the upper corners of the headand foot sections, which corners are diagonally opposite the lowerextremities of said guides, both said side sections having furtherfastening elements near their remaining corners coacting releasably withthe head and foot sections, whereby the sections can be secured togetheralternatively in two different modes, in the first of which the sidesections have their short edges extending alongside the long edges ofthe head and foot sections to form a generally rectangular cot wallstructure embodying a dropside, and adapted to support in its interior aremovable mattress base, and in the second of which the side sectionshave their short edges extending alongside the short edges of the headand foot sections to form a generally rectangular play-pen wallstructure.

2. In a convertible cot and play-pen appliance of the kind comprisinghead and foot sections of greater height than width and side sections ofgreater length than height; the provision of, means for pivotallyconnecting the side sections to the head and foot sections aboutrespective axes approximately coincident with upper and lower long edgesof the side sections and with upper and lower ends of the long edges ofthe head and foot sections and perpendicular to the planes of thelatter, means for releasably connecting the side sections to said longedges of the head and foot sections at positions spaced respectivelybelow and above said axes, to .permitthe side sections to be pivotedabout said axes while the side sections remain in connected relationwith the head and foot sections at the axes, so that the short edges ofthe side sections can be moved alongside the short edges of the head andfoot sections, and; means on these last said short edges for engagingthe releasable fastening means therewith.

3. In a convertible cot and play-pen appliance of the kind comprisinghead and foot sections of greater height than width and side sections ofgreater length than height; the provision of, means for slidablyconnecting at least one side section with its short edges arrangedalongside adjacent long edges of the head and foot sections so that itcan be raised and lowered to form a drop-side, means permitting pivotingof this side section at least when in its lowered position relatively tosaid head and foot sections about an axis approximately coincident withthe lower lon edge of this side section and with the lower ends of thelong edges of the head and foot sections, means for pivotally connectingthe other side section to the head and foot sections at the oppositeedges thereof and about an axis approximately coincident with the upperlong edge of this side section and with the upper ends of the adjacentlong edges of the head and foot sections, menas for releasablyconnecting the side sections to said long edges of the head and fontsections at positions spaced respectively above and belcw the first andsecond said axes to permit the side sections to be pivoted about saidaxes while the side sections remain connected relation with the head andfoot sections at the axes, so that the short edges of the side sectionscan moved alcngside the short edges of the head and foot ctions and;means on these last said short edges for engaging the releasablefastening means therewith.

4. a convertible cot and play-pen appliance oi the kind comprising headand foot sections of greater than width and side sections or" greaterlength than height; the provision of, marginal portions on the head andfoot elements having openings extending through them and situatedadjacent to the corners defined by the meeting of the long and shorteredges of the head and foot sections, at least one of the openings inboth the head and foot sections situated at the lower end of a long edgecommunicating with a slot-like guide extending upwardly therefromparallel to this long edge, said marginal portions havingfurtheropenings situated respectively above the lower ends of saidslot-like guide and below the openings adjacent to the upper corners onthe opposite sides of the head and foot sections, at a distancesubstantially equal to the separation between the corner openingsmeasured along the short edges of the head and foot sections, thesefurther openings having lateral mouths opening into the long edges ofthe head and foot sections, headed fastening elements engaged threadablywith the side sec tions in one case through the openings at the lcwerends of said slot-like guides, and in the other case through therelatively diagonally opposed openings at the upper ends of the oppositelong edges of the head and foot sections, and in both cases additionallyeither through said further openings or through the remaining corneropenings which are in the form of open mouthed slots according towhether the appliance is assembled as a cot or play-pen, the fasteningelements on slackening being freely moveable in the openings to permitof lateral removal from said further openings and pivoted movement ofthe side sections about parallel axes at said diagonally opposedopenings while said side sections remain in connected relation with thehead and foot sections preparatory to engagement of the removedfastening elements in said remaining corner openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 97,545 Muller Dec. 7, 1869 2,360,525 Odom Oct. 17, 19442,518,904 King Aug. 15, 1950 2,554,883 Smigley May 29, 1951 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 131,517 Great Britain Aug. 28, 1919 532,036Great Britain Jan. 16, 1941 129,046 Australia Sept. 7, 1948

